Hi, I am Pat Thurman, candidate for Superintendent of Schools for Clay County.  I am running a grass roots, word of mouth campaign, with the encouragement and prayers of family, friends, and the teachers of Clay County.  As a retired naval officer, graduate of Annapolis, and a Master's Degree in Strategic Studies, I have taught NJROTC locally at Middleburg High School for the last five years.  I was a classroom and cockpit instructor pilot, worked on billion dollar programs in the Pentagon, and ran the travel detachment for the Chief of Naval Operations on the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

After traveling around the world and seeing my three kids attend 20 different schools in six different states, and now after these last five years of working inside the Clay County school system, I can now tell you how far off we are in educating our children to national standards.  We should be focusing on teaching elementary reading skills early enough so that children can grasp all subject matter earlier.  We have no middle school career wheel to expose our children to available career paths, so many enter high school with no direction except FCAT.  We do not identify and track individual student's high school vocational attributes or aggresively pursue post-secondary scholarships with any type of strategic K-12 plan.  We put way too much emphasis on FCAT, and pass that stress on to the kids.  There are no jobs or scholarships for FCAT.  We must teach our children to master subject matter, not FCAT.  If we do this right, FCAT becomes just another test..

No county administrator visits the schools regularly, and feedback from teachers, students, and parents is only wanted if it is platitudes.  Our county administrators continually spread the "Clay County has good schools" mantra every chance they get, but we never hear about the dismal 75% graduation rate, and the hundreds of kids that either do not graduate, or have no plans for their future.

I am running for this position to take Clay's kids beyond the FCAT, and to help each of them and their families plan out their educational careers, focusing on their strengths.  We need change for the better, not the same old song and mantra.  Clay's kids need a disciplined and ethical leader who cares about each of them and their future.  I believe in the meaning of honor and integrity.  I am an action person and operator, not an administrator with 30-40 years of working in the same building with little experience outside of Walnut street.  We have great teachers, great students, and great parents, but we cannot improve if we will not change.  Please vote for change, for improvement, and for our kids' futures.

Please visit my website, Thurman4Super.com, or call me and talk to me, or just write me in the blog. Clay County's kids and their future are my passion.  Only such a passion could lead me through the painful process of a public election.  Also, please tell a friend if you like what you read.